These sources stress, however, that no deal has been inked and negotiations could still break down. Antitrust authorities obviously have Google in their sights and are taking a very long hard look at anything it does.

ITA makes software that helps search companies including Kayak and Bing get flights information, so these companies have been lobbying hard against the acquisition. If Google owns ITA, it could theoretically kneecap its travel search competitors, so if the deal is allowed it will almost certainly force Google-owned ITA to keep sending data to competitors.